Adjustable spring caster door support



Feb. 3, 1953 R, E, SLOPA 2,627,081

ADJUSTABLE SPRING CASTER DOOR SUPPORT Filed March 3, 1950 INVENTOR. /Qg a 2/ MIZ kf. 5L UPA By/MAZ AT TUR E Patented Feb. 3, 195.3

ADJUSTABLE SPRING CASTER DOOR SUPPORT Robert E. Slopa, Chicago, Ill., assignor of one-half to George W. Slopa.. Chicago, Ill.

Application March 3, 19.50, Serial No. 147,555

1 Claim.

The invention relates to improvements in door supports, and is particularly concerned with an adjustable door supporting roller and mounting therefor.

Heavy hingedly mounted doors, such 'as for example walk-in refrigerator doors, very often sag regardless of the type of hinges used for mounting the door. It is, therefore, often advisable to install some form of support at the foot of the free edge of the door. Such a support must of necessity include a roller that will travel on the floor during opening and closing of the door. Inasmuch as the floor in the area of the refrigerator opening closed by the door is, or soon becomes, uneven because of excessive wear, the roller mounting preferably is yieldable so as to compensate for such irregularities. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel roller support for a door, which is constructed so as to afford essential yieldability in the roller mounting.

In order to adapt a given size roller support for installation on doors having diiferent floor clearances, the roller mounting in the support should be adjustable. It is, therefore, another object of the invention to provide novel means to facilitate easy adjustment of the yieldable roller mounting.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roller support for a door which is durably constructed, efficient in operation, and not expensive to manufacture or to install.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosedl a structure designed to carry out the various objects of the invention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not conned to the exact features shown as various changes may be made within the scope of the claims which follow.

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the door support mounted upon a door and showing a portion of the housing cover broken away.

Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional view of the door support.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View, taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the support is shown mounted upon the foot of the free vertical edge of a door II. It is to be understood that this door is of a kind that is hinged- 1y mounted along its opposite vertical edge so as to be swingably moved into open and closed positions. The door support includes a cast housing I2 having a back wall I3, a top wall I4, a bottom I5, and connecting side walls I6. The back wall I3 extends beyond the top and bottom walls to denne mounting flanges I1, each of which is suitably apertured to receive therethrough mounting screws I8 whereby the housing may be secured firmly to the face of the door II. The bottom wall I5 has a boss I9 formed integral therewith which extends inwardly from said wall and is provided with a square or non-circular vertical passage 2I opening onto the bottom `face of the housing I2.

An inverted U-shaped bracket or yoke 22 provides a mounting for a roller 23 which is suitably journalled therein preferably by means of a bolt 24 extending through said roller and through aligned apertures in the sides 25 of said bracket. The intermediate or bight portion 26 of the bracket 22 has a square or non-circular shank 21 formed integral therewith extending outwardly therefrom. The shank 21 is of a size and shape to be slidably received within the non-circular passage 2I of boss I9 in the manner shown.

The top wall I4 of the bracket I2 is provided with a boss 28 on its inside face. This boss has an aperture 29 in axial alignment with the vertical passage 2l in boss I9. A bolt 3l has its shank 32 extended downwardly through the boss 28. The head of said bolt preferably is seated on a washerk 33 laid against the top face of the top wall I4. A substantial portion of the bolt shank 32 is threaded, as at 34, and this threaded portion is screwed into a tapped hole 35 in the shank 21. It should be quite evident that upon rotation of the bolt 3I in either direction the shank 21 is drawn into or urged outwardly from the housing I2. This affords means whereby the position of the roller 23 may be adjusted relative to the housing I2 after the same has been mounted upon the door I I.

Means is provided whereby the roller 23 and its mounting bracket 22 are resiliently supported in any position of adjustment determined by manipulation of the bolt 3|. To this end, a nut 36 is threaded onto the bolt 3l prior to its being threaded into the shank 21. This nut supports the washer 31 having seated thereagainst one end of a tension spring 38. The other end of the tension spring 38 bears against a washer 39 arranged on the bottom face of the boss 28. Manipulation of the nut 36 will increase or decrease the tension of the spring 38 and thereby increase or decrease the resiliency of the mounting. If desired, a lock nut 4I may be associated with `the nut 36 to prevent inadvertent displacement of the nut 36 after it has been adjusted on the threaded shank 32'.

The housing I2 is provided with a cover 42 which overlies the entire front face thereof and which may be secured in place as by screws 43 Should adjustment of the spring tension become necessary, or in the event of part replacement, thecover 42 may be easily and quickly removed to thereby expose the spring, nut and bolt assembly.

Although an exemplary form of the invention has been disclosed in the accompanying drawings, and described in detail in the foregoing specication, it should be understood that the invention is capable of embodying a variety of modications in its detail structure without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

An adjustable door support of the character described' comprising in combination a housing including side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall. means to facilitate mounting of the housing on a door, a boss on and projecting downwardly from the bottom face of the top wall, said top wall and boss having an opening therethrough, a boss on and projecting upwardly from the top face of the bottom wall, said bottom Wall and the last named boss having a square opening therethrough in alignment with the opening in the top wall and the rst named boss, a roller bracket having a square shank extending upwardly through the square opening, a tapped opening in the free end of said shank, a headed adjusting bolt extending downwardly through the opening in the top wall and the top wall boss and threaded into the tapped opening, the bolt head resting normally against the top face of the top wall, a nut on the bolt within the housing, a compression spring on said bolt, said spring being conned between the bottom face of the top wall boss and the nut, said nut being adjustable so that the spring tension may be varied upon adjustment of the nut, a front Wall on the housing removable to admit access to the nut for adjusting the same, and a roller carried by said bracket adapted to ride along a surface to support a door upon which the device is mounted.

ROBERT E. SLOPA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 207,120 Hunt Aug. 20, 1878 288,028 Coultaus Nov. 6, 1883 361,693 Guild Apr. 26, 1887 995,831 Winter June 20, 1911 1,490,132 Sheehy Apr. 15, 1924 1,524,005 Dodge Jan. 20, 1925 1,788,391 Green Jan. 13, 1931 2,347,524 Swan Apr. 25, 1944 

